Amongst all the great Christmas films ever made, Its a Wonderful Life is, without a doubt, the very best of them, and Frank Capra's best film, period. All of his films portrayed his positive, life affirming philosophy towards the world, but this film defined that philosophy, and while it has had more than half a century's worth of competition, it still stands as the greatest Christmas film ever made.
The nostalgic inner child in you may disagree and cite A Christmas Story or How the Grinch Stole Christmas or even It's Christmas Charlie Brown! The cynic in you will jokingly cite Die Hard or Lethal Weapon as the greatest holiday film ever made, but those sides of you are both wrong! When it comes to a holiday film, you need to go with your heart and soul, and that points you towards It's a Wonderful Life.
To begin with, the film deals with an aspect of the holidays that few other films are brave enough to handle: Depression, nihilism, disappointment, negativity. Heck, the movie's first act ends with Jimmy Stewart, the friendliest and warmest actor that ever lived, getting ready to jump off a bridge and off himself!
Capra digs Stewart's George Bailey a pit of sadness and pain, and watches as he learns to live again and climbs himself out. This is true positivity, true life affirming hope. Any old lifetime channel original movie can be positive and optimistic by simply never facing the hero or heroine with any challenges, but Capra knew that the only time optimism counts for anything is when the whole world is telling you to only see the worst side of things.
The film ranks with Rocky as the greatest Happy Tears movies of all time. If you're not crying by the time the film ends then... You probably weren't actually watching the film! Put down your Nintendo DS or crossword puzzles for just a couple hours and actually watch the film! It is a triumphant display of how optimism and hope always trump negativity.
The movie actually flopped on release for some reason or other. Capra was always a director you could rely on to make a lot of money for the studios, but for whatever reason, this one just didn't grab the initial audience. Luckily, it did go on to become one of the most popular movies of all time on cable, in second runs, and on video and DVD. Still, at the time, it almost sank the director's career.
Another interesting point: Film legend has it that Stewart was the director's only choice for the lead, but in fact, his first choice had been the other legendary nice guy of the screen, Henry Fonda. Fonda could have turned in an incredible performance, but Stewart really plays the character of a lifetime in George Bailey.
There were a number of alternative endings considered, but none of them would have been as satisfying as the way the story wraps up in the film... Except maybe the Saturday Night Live sketch where Bailey leads the whole town to Potter's house to give him a comeuppance... Interestingly, this ending, while a spoof, was nearly the same as an alternative ending that was actually filmed! - 40726
The nostalgic inner child in you may disagree and cite A Christmas Story or How the Grinch Stole Christmas or even It's Christmas Charlie Brown! The cynic in you will jokingly cite Die Hard or Lethal Weapon as the greatest holiday film ever made, but those sides of you are both wrong! When it comes to a holiday film, you need to go with your heart and soul, and that points you towards It's a Wonderful Life.
To begin with, the film deals with an aspect of the holidays that few other films are brave enough to handle: Depression, nihilism, disappointment, negativity. Heck, the movie's first act ends with Jimmy Stewart, the friendliest and warmest actor that ever lived, getting ready to jump off a bridge and off himself!
Capra digs Stewart's George Bailey a pit of sadness and pain, and watches as he learns to live again and climbs himself out. This is true positivity, true life affirming hope. Any old lifetime channel original movie can be positive and optimistic by simply never facing the hero or heroine with any challenges, but Capra knew that the only time optimism counts for anything is when the whole world is telling you to only see the worst side of things.
The film ranks with Rocky as the greatest Happy Tears movies of all time. If you're not crying by the time the film ends then... You probably weren't actually watching the film! Put down your Nintendo DS or crossword puzzles for just a couple hours and actually watch the film! It is a triumphant display of how optimism and hope always trump negativity.
The movie actually flopped on release for some reason or other. Capra was always a director you could rely on to make a lot of money for the studios, but for whatever reason, this one just didn't grab the initial audience. Luckily, it did go on to become one of the most popular movies of all time on cable, in second runs, and on video and DVD. Still, at the time, it almost sank the director's career.
Another interesting point: Film legend has it that Stewart was the director's only choice for the lead, but in fact, his first choice had been the other legendary nice guy of the screen, Henry Fonda. Fonda could have turned in an incredible performance, but Stewart really plays the character of a lifetime in George Bailey.
There were a number of alternative endings considered, but none of them would have been as satisfying as the way the story wraps up in the film... Except maybe the Saturday Night Live sketch where Bailey leads the whole town to Potter's house to give him a comeuppance... Interestingly, this ending, while a spoof, was nearly the same as an alternative ending that was actually filmed! - 40726
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